Xbox Game Pass is Microsoft's all-in-one subscription for Xbox One games, granting a Netflix-style library for $10 per month. We've rounded up the unmissable Xbox Game Pass games in 2018.

Microsoft's latest racing entry, Forza Horizon 4, is easily among the top games on Xbox One today – even for those who aren't genre fans. Fallout 4 and DOOM are stellar single-player experiences, published by the king of the genre, Bethesda. And for those with friends, don't overlook Tom Clancy's The Division, especially with a sequel on the horizon.

Xbox Game Pass

Don't miss out

$10 at Microsoft

Netflix meets Xbox One gaming.

Xbox Game Pass is a Netflix-style subscription service for Xbox One, granting access to more than 100 games, and new Microsoft releases on launch day. In short, it's great value for all gamers.

Playing the Fallout 76 beta? Here's a list of all the times and dates you need.

Bethesda has kicked off the first Fallout 76 beta test; its upcoming shared-world role-playing game (RPG) headed to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. Dubbed the "Break It Early Test Application (B.E.T.A.)," the trial provides a chance to get hands-on before its slated November 14 release.

The Fallout 76 beta is available exclusively via a preorder, granting access to a pre-release version of the full game. However, despite several weeks of testing, Fallout 76's beta won't be playable 24/7. To gather large pools of players for testing, servers will only be live for small timeframes, ranging from "four to eight hours."

We've wrapped up all confirmed dates and times for Fallout 76 beta sessions so far. We'll update this post going forward with future updates.

How to play the Fallout 76 beta

See at Amazon

Fallout 76 Xbox One beta dates and times

Fallout 76's beta has made its Xbox One debut, with a four-hour tease of the final product. A second session is expected soon, with Bethesda telling players to "stay tuned."

• October 23, 2018 – 7 PM ET to 11 PM ET (4 PM PT to 8 PM PT / 12AM to 4AM UK)
• Future times and dates TBA

Fallout 76 PlayStation 4 beta dates and times

Bethesda is yet to confirm times for Fallout 76's PlayStation 4 beta, aside from October 30, 2018 availability. As future times and dates are announced, we'll update this list.

• October 30 – times and dates TBA

Fallout 76 PC beta dates and times

Times and dates are once again unclear for Fallout 76's PC beta. For now, an October 30 release date has been confirmed, in-line with PlayStation 4.

• October 30 – times and dates TBA

Check back in the coming days for future Fallout 76 beta schedules.

See at Amazon

Updated October 24, 2018: Updated following the first Xbox One test session.

Office 365 is designed to help you work together with co-workers and colleagues. It has real-time collaboration and multiple ways to share that improve your teamwork and collaboration. Here's how to take advantage of Office 365 so you can all work together.

Products used in this guide

• Microsoft: Microsoft Office 365 for Home ($70/year)
• Microsoft: Microsoft Teams (Free)

Work together in real time

Microsoft has centered the Office suite on getting work done, including in real time with colleagues. Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, and many other projects save automatically and can be co-edited in real time. You can see who is editing a project any time that you're on it and track changes to keep everything straight, even if your team is doing extensive editing.

The main Office suite including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook are available on a variety of operating systems including Windows 10, MacOS, iOS, and Android so you can work together with people no matter what device both of you are on. Some services like Access are only available on PC.

To collaborate in real time you need to share a file with another person. You can do this by either clicking the share icon in an Office app and entering their email, or sharing a file through Outlook. When you attempt to share a file within Outlook you'll be prompted to share the file or share a copy. If you want to co-author files in real time, make sure to share the file. For this to work, your file also needs to be saved within OneDrive. Microsoft further breaks down sharing documents using Office 365 on their website

Talk anywhere

Microsoft Teams is a centralized hub for communicating and collaborating on projects. It supports chatting with text, audio and video calls, group calls, and web conferences.

Think of it as a competitor to Slack, as it has a somewhat familiar interface to those who have used Slack for communication. In Microsoft Teams, you can separate teams into channels. For example, you could have your entire company be part of the same team and then split marketing, sales, and human resources into different channels to keep workflows and discussions separate. You can also use it to view and schedule meetings, which syncs with Outlook.

It integrates directly with Office services like Word and Excel, so you can co-author projects and keep up to date with their progress inside of Microsoft Teams. When you share a file within a channel you can co-author it in real time with other members of that same channel. You can also integrate other apps into it which can increase your efficiency or streamline your workflow.

Like the Office suite, Microsoft Teams is available across a number of devices, so you can jump right into a workflow no matter where you are. You can get Microsoft Teams on iOS and Android and use it on Windows 10 or Windows 10S.

Microsoft Teams has a free version, or you can get access to more features by using paid versions. Microsoft Teams is relatively new so coworkers and colleagues may not be familiar with it. Microsoft further breaks down the ins and outs of Microsoft Teams on their website

Share files

While the easiest way to work together virtually using Office 365 is to use Office apps, you can use any program you'd like and then share the files through OneDrive. This allows you to collaborate even if you're doing something that Office doesn't do, such as photo or video editing, or if your colleagues or coworkers are using another suite of apps or services.

For example, if you work in photo editing, graphic design, or other creative fields, there isn't an Office app that you can get work done in. Fortunately, you can still save any file that you'd like inside of OneDrive and share that file with a colleague. While you can't co-edit that file in real time using this method, either of you can make edits and then save them so you don't have multiple versions of the same file floating around.

The Home, Personal, and all the Business versions of Office 365 plans come with 1TB of OneDrive storage per person. You can use OneDrive on your PC or your iOS or Android devices to make sure you have access to all your team's files anywhere.

Improving Teamwork

Office 365

$70/year at Microsoft Store

A great way to work together across platforms

Office 365 is built to let users collaborate on documents, spreadsheets, and other projects in real time.

Office 365 is built to get work done in a variety of different fields. Use it to collaborate in real time on documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and more.

Facilitating Teamwork

Microsoft Teams

Free at Microsoft Store

Simple cross-platform communication

Microsoft Teams lets you work together with colleagues through voice, text, audio, group calls, and more.

It also integrates directly with the Office suite, including allowing you to co-author projects and documents together.

We live and breathe tech, and also gaming, with every member of Windows Central rocking either an Xbox One console or PC gaming rig. We've compared and contrasted every iteration of Xbox One to bring you this guide.

Ultimately the battle between the Xbox One S and Xbox One X boils down to whether you have a 4K TV to go with it. If you have a 4K television or monitor, an Xbox One X will provide the best visuals the video game industry has to offer outside of a very high-end gaming PC. Even on 1080p sets, many games support Xbox One X-exclusive 60 FPS modes, but you'll be paying a premium for the privilege.

Xbox One X vs. Xbox One S: Spec showdown

HD vs. UHD

With the Xbox One X being around $200 more expensive than the Xbox One S, it's fair to expect some massive gains. Microsoft has delivered. The Xbox One X packs well over 130 visually enhanced games with more on the way, taking advantage of the console's beastly 6 teraflops (TF) of graphical power. By comparison, the Xbox One S only has around 1.2 TF, which often struggles to handle games at a native 1080p resolution. But what does all of this mean?

Resolutions, charted. 4K/UHD in red, 1080p/HD in bright green.

4K is referred to as "UHD" or ultra-high definition because the images contain many millions of additional pixels (8,294,400 to be precise) vs. standard high-definition (2,073,600). Each pixel represents a single point of colored light, which combine to create the images on-screen. More pixels means sharper images, more detail, and thus, more immersion. Both consoles also support HDR, which allows games to achieve more vivid colors and leverage more realistic light tones and contrasts, producing spectacular effects.

Xbox One @ 1080p (left) | Project Scorpio @ 4K (right).

It's hard to replicate what 4K truly means without viewing the images on a 4K screen, simply because the display doesn't have enough pixels to show the images natively. While it doesn't really do true 4K justice as the images are squashed, you can see in the above slider that the 4K image is far crisper than the 1080p image, especially when you zoom in using your web browser. Pay attention to details in the background textures, the hair, and so on. In modern AAA games like Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the difference is quite huge.

Even owners of 1080p TVs can get in on the Xbox One X action.

Microsoft used these images to demonstrate the differences between 4K and 1080p on the Xbox One X to developers earlier in the year, showing how resolution bumps could instantaneously enhance visual quality. It isn't all about raw resolution, however, and even owners of 1080p TVs can get in on the Xbox One X action to some degree. Many games support 60 FPS modes exclusive to the Xbox One X, which you'll be able to enjoy on a 1080p set.

Highly-detailed "AAA" games like Assassin's Creed Odyssey truly come to life in 4K, with unprecedented detail.

Some games on the Xbox One X enhanced list won't output at native 4K resolution, instead, they will either use checkerboard rendering techniques or use sub-4K resolutions, using compute power to add physical details and improved effects instead (or in addition). Even if they are using UHD resolutions your HD set can't accept, the Xbox One X will use a technique called supersampling to take the 4K image and improve its visual quality at an HD level. You'll also benefit from faster loading speeds, due to the X's upgraded HDD.

Additional features

So, we know that dozens and dozens of games will look significantly better on the Xbox One X, but what about other features?

The first thing to note is that the Xbox One X is slightly smaller than the S. It's not so much smaller you'll choose based on that fact alone, but it's worth being aware of. Both consoles can also be positioned vertically with an additional vertical stand.

Both the Xbox One X and Xbox One S run incredibly quietly, despite the X's slim form factor. The X comes with advanced cooling features to help with this, which no doubt, in part, has impacted its price point.

Both consoles support HDMI-in for TV pass-through, meaning that you can connect your cable box or TV receiver to your console, and use it to navigate channels and TV schedules. However, using the Xbox One's TV tuner accessory, you could eliminate a separate TV set-top box altogether in some territories. Both consoles also have an IR blaster to communicate with other devices, such as televisions, sound systems, and remote controls.

Neither console has a port tailored specifically for the (now dead) Kinect, sadly, but you can pick up a Kinect USB adapter for that purpose if you still have one. Since the October 2018 update, the Xbox One S and Xbox One X can be controlled using an Amazon Echo voice speaker, which is a nice replacement for Kinect. As for other peripherals, both the X and the S have the same number of USB ports: two in the back, one in the front.

The Xbox One S was updated with support for 1080p 30 FPS game DVR clip recording, after years of being restricted to 720p. The Xbox One X, however, supports full 4K 60 FPS video recording options, complete with HDR. With current technology, the best 4K capture devices are either PCI-e based (for desktop PCs) or professional grade-standalone solutions that cost hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider looks stunning on the Xbox One X.

Additionally, the Xbox One X supports FreeSync variable refresh rates — Xbox One X enhanced games could offer options for frame rates between the standard 30 and 60 FPS without screen-tearing. This will provide a smooth experience even if developers decide to offer sub-60 FPS frame rates to achieve 4K or other visual enhancements in their games. While support for this sort of display technology isn't yet widespread in combination with 4K and HDR, it should see more adoption in 2019 and beyond.

So, which should you buy?

The real issue here is whether or not you have a 4K television. There are gains to be had by using the Xbox One X with a 1080p set, but they will be nowhere near as pronounced as they would with a 4K display with HDR. I would argue that, unless you're going to get a 4K TV or monitor in the near future, that you should stick with the Xbox One S. However, as time goes by, more and more games have "60 FPS" options that enhance games significantly even on a 1080p TV. It should also be noted that the X has a faster hard drive, which has an impact on load times.

If you're on the fence about whether or not to join the 4K resolution revolution, it depends what you want from your console experience. If you're the type of console gamer who buys all the latest, biggest games and wants the best visual experience possible, the Xbox One X with a 4K TV is the best option by far this year. If you're a content creator, the Xbox One X will provide you with 4K video clips and screenshots as an added bonus.

However, if you're a little more casual and are more interested in maybe just picking up one or two games per year and playing occasionally in the evenings after a hard day at work, consuming media on the side, the Xbox One S might be a more cost-effective solution. You can always invest in a 4K TV and an Xbox One X later, since all games and all accessories will be fully compatible across both devices. You'll get the 4K upgraded visuals included for free. 4K panels and the Xbox One X will eventually come down in price, too.

It all boils down to personal preference, but the Xbox One S is going to be the true bargain console for the remainder of the year. The X will compete for the hardcore audience against Sony's less-powerful PlayStation 4 Pro and even some higher-end gaming PCs.

As someone who primarily plays on Xbox One X in 4K with HDR, I frankly never want to see a 1080p, HDR-less game again, especially after playing enhanced games like Wolfenstein II and Assassin's Creed: Origins. But I'm also the kind of guy who has spent his entire working life picking up all the latest games and consoles too. It all depends on how invested you are in the hobby, but 4K is truly something special.

Xbox One S

Cheap and cheerful

From $280 at Amazon

Thousands of games without breaking the bank.

The Xbox One S might not be powerful enough for gaming on your 4K TV, but it sports thousands of games and 4K media for an affordable price.

Xbox One X

Monstrous power

For those who want the best-looking games.

$485 at Amazon

The Xbox One X is significantly more powerful than any other console out there, providing the best-looking games built for your 4K TV.

If you don't have a use for the Your Phone app, it's easy to remove.

On Windows 10, Your Phone is an app that allows you to connect to your mobile device wirelessly to access your pictures, notifications, and text messages.

The built-in app is available beginning with the Windows 10 October 2018 Update (version 1809), and while it's an interesting approach (but not unique) to integrate your phone with your computer, it's still a work in progress with missing features and functionalities, and currently, it only allows you to link your Android device.

If you don't have a use for Your Phone, you're experiencing problems, or you're an iPhone user, it's possible to uninstall the app.

In this Windows 10 guide, we'll walk you through the steps to uninstall the Your Phone app. In addition, we'll outline the steps to get it back in case you change your mind.

• How to uninstall the Your Phone app using PowerShell
• How to install the Your Phone app using Microsoft Store

How to uninstall the Your Phone app using PowerShell

If you want to get rid of the app, or you're having problems, and the reset option doesn't work, you can uninstall it using PowerShell with these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Windows PowerShell, right-click the top result and select Run as Administrator.

3. Type the following command to uninstall the app and press Enter:

   Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.YourPhone -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage

Once you complete these steps, the Your Phone experience will be removed from your computer.

How to install the Your Phone app using Microsoft Store

In the future, if you want the app back, you can reinstall Your Phone using the Microsoft Store with these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Microsoft Store, and click the top result to open the experience.
3. Use the search box in the top right, search for Your Phone, and click the top result.

4. Click the Install button.

After completing these steps, the Your Phone app, will be available again in your installation of Windows 10.

If you need assistance setting up the app again, you can use our guide that walks you through the steps to get started with this experience. Also, if you come across any problems or you have questions about the app, make sure to check out this other guide with troubleshooting steps and information you need to know about Your Phone.

More Windows 10 resources

For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10, visit the following resources:

• Windows 10 on Windows Central – All you need to know
• Windows 10 help, tips, and tricks
• Windows 10 forums on Windows Central

Here's everything you need to know to start using and get the most out of Sticky Notes 3.0 on Windows 10.

On Windows 10, Sticky Notes is an experience that allows you to create notes rather than sticking pieces of papers around the monitor or across your desk.

The app has been around since Windows Vista, but starting with the October 2018 Update (version 1809), Windows 10 introduces Sticky Notes 3.0 with an improved design (retaining the familiar look and feel) and a new home experience to organize and find all your notes. Also, this new version introduces the ability to sync your notes to the cloud, which allows you to access your notes across devices, including to your Android phone.

In this Windows 10 guide, we'll walk you through the steps to get started using Sticky Notes 3.0 across devices.

• How to connect Sticky Notes with your Microsoft account
• How to use Sticky Notes on Windows 10
• How to use Sticky Notes with keyboard shortcuts
• How to enable Sticky Notes insights
• How to export Sticky Notes content
• How to manage delete Sticky Notes settings
• How to sync Sticky Notes with Android

How to connect Sticky Notes with your Microsoft account

Starting with this version, you can sign in to Sticky Notes using your Microsoft account to sync your notes across your devices and keep them backed up in the cloud. Here's how:

1. Open Start.

2. Search for Sticky Notes, click the top result to open the experience.

   Quick Tip: The new version of Sticky Notes is compatible with Windows 10 version 1803 (April 2018 Update) and later. If you can't find the app on your installation, you can download it from the Microsoft Store.

3. Click the Settings (gear) button in the top-right corner.

4. Click the Sign in button. (Or the Sign out button if you want to stop syncing your notes.)

5. Select the Microsoft account you're using on Windows 10.
6. Click the Continue button.

Once you've completed the steps, your notes will upload to your Microsoft account, and they will sync across devices (including to your Android phone).

Using a Microsoft account is a requirement to backup and sync your notes, but it's not a mandatory step to use the app. However, if you start using the app without signing in, and then you link your Microsoft account your notes will upload to the cloud, and if you sign out your notes will no longer be available unless you sign back in.

How to use Sticky Notes on Windows 10

Although Sticky Notes version 3 remains similar to the legacy app, the experience has been updated with new interface changes and features.

To get started creating, editing, deleting, and organizing your notes, use the following steps:

Creating, editing, and deleting notes

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Sticky Notes, click the top result to open the experience.

• Creating a new note: Click the plus (+) button in the top-left corner of a note, or in the home experience.

• Changing a note color: Click the menu (three-dotted) button in the top-right corner of the note, and select the color you want (including yellow, green, pink, purple, blue, gray, and charcoal).

• Formatting a note: Type your note, and use the toolbar at the bottom of the note to format the content. Options available, include bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, and bullets.

• Deleting a note: Click the menu (three-dotted) button in the top-right corner of the note, and click the Delete note option.

In addition to adding content with the keyboard, Sticky Notes 3.0 includes support for Windows Ink, which means that on touch-enabled devices, you can use natural handwriting with a stylus to create notes.

Sticky Notes home

If you use Sticky Notes on a daily basis, it's easy for your desktop to get clutter with notes, and for that reason, starting with version 3.0, the experience also includes a new home to organize all your notes.

The new home is straightforward, as you create new notes, they will appear in a chronological order.

If you can't find a note, you can use the search box to find a particular note. (And yes, a emoji is also a keyword.)

If you want to edit the note, double-click it. Or click the Trash can button to delete it.

As we outlined above, at the top, you'll find a toolbar to create new notes, access the settings, and close the experience.

How to use Sticky Notes with keyboard shortcuts

Similar to previous versions, you can use keyboard shortcuts to work faster and more efficiently with Sticky Notes.

Here's the full list of keyboard shortcuts that you can use with Sticky Notes on Windows 10:

How to enable Sticky Notes insights

Insights for Sticky Notes is a feature that allows Cortana to scan your notes for information (such as dates, times, phone numbers, addresses, websites, stock symbols, flight numbers, and more), which can help you to quickly create reminders or take action based on the content that you wrote.

If you want to enable or disable insights, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Sticky Notes, click the top result to open the experience.
3. Click the Settings (gear) button in the top-right corner.

4. Under "General," turn on or off the Enable insights toggle switch.

After completing the steps, every time that you create content with specific data, the text will turn blue and clicking that text, you'll notice an Add Reminder, Call, View Address, or another similar option, depending on the information to take action with Cortana.

How to export Sticky Notes content

If you're about to start with a fresh copy of Windows 10, it's no longer necessary to resource to workarounds to backup your notes, thanks to the Sticky Notes' ability to sync your content to your Microsoft account (more specifically to Outlook). However, it's still possible to export your notes for safekeeping, using these steps:

1. Open Outlook on the web.
2. Click the Settings (gear) button in the top-right corner.

3. Click the View all Outlook settings link.

4. Click on General.
5. Click on Privacy and data.

6. Click the Export mailbox button.

Once you've completed the steps, it could take up to four days for the process to complete. After the backup is ready, you'll receive an email with the link to download the Outlook content, which also includes your sticky notes content.

How to manage Sticky Notes deletion settings

Using the experience, you can delete notes with one click, or you can use a confirmation dialog to prevent removing notes accidentally.

To enable or disable deletion confirmation on Windows 10, do the following:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Sticky Notes, click the top result to open the experience.
3. Click the Settings (gear) button in the top-right.

4. Under "General," turn on or off the Confirm before deleting toggle switch.

After completing the steps, every time you try to delete a sticky note, a confirmation dialog will appear depending on the settings you configured.

How to sync Sticky Notes with Android

In addition to syncing your notes across other Windows 10 devices, starting with Sticky Notes 3.0, you can also sync your notes to your Android phone using OneNote.

The process to sync your notes across devices is a straightforward process, you only need to be using the same Microsoft account on the devices that you want to access your notes.

Quick Tip: You can always double-check that you're using the same account on your Android device by tapping the Settings (three-dotted) > Account on OneNote.

To access your sticky notes using Android, do the following:

1. Open OneNote.
2. Click the Sticky Notes button in the bottom-right corner.

Once in the "All notes" interface, you can tab the note to interact with its content.

You can tap the Settings (three-dotted) button in the top-right corner to change the background color, share, or delete the note.

If you want to create a new note, click the plus (+) button, and use the toolbar at the bottom of the note to format the content.

After completing the steps, any changes that you made to Sticky Notes will sync automatically across devices.

Important: At the time of this writing, Sticky Notes for Android is only available in beta. This means that to use this feature, you must install the latest pre-release version of OneNote for Android. You can sign up on this Google Play website.

More Windows 10 resources

For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10, visit the following resources:

• Windows 10 on Windows Central – All you need to know
• Windows 10 help, tips, and tricks
• Windows 10 forums on Windows Central

We've been testing network attached storage units for years and have acquired quite the understanding of what the average home user seeks in a NAS. Here's what you need to know when choosing between these two solutions.

Both the Synology DS918+ and QNAP TS-453B are excellent NAS solutions for the home and small office. Both house similar internals, sport the same number of bays, and have great operating systems to boot. The choice is really down to what you plan to do with the NAS, the slight price difference, as well as brand loyalty.

Similar specs

Intel powers everything

Both NAS models come rocking the same quad-core Intel Celeron J3455 processor, which isn't a slouch at 1.5GHz (able to burst up to 2.3GHz), although it doesn't compare to Core i5 or Core i7 for advanced processes. You'll be able to handle most tasks with either NAS, including the streaming and transcoding of media, but you may struggle at 4K and above.

For RAM, both support up to 8GB of DDR3L memory and there are — of course — four bays available for hard drives. The number of ports is where things become a little interesting, with the DS918+ touting two Gigabit LAN ports (the same as QNAP), two USB 3.0, and a single external SATA port.

QNAP opted to go with five USB 3.0 ports (including a front-facing USB Type-C connector), SD card reader, multiple jack inputs, but no eSATA. The addition of an IR receiver on the QNAP TS-453B with the bundled remote puts it in a better position as a media server.

If you don't plan on using a remote, the DS918+ is still a solid streaming box. The OS on the QNAP NAS is a great user experience and can handle most tasks you throw at it, but I have a personal soft spot for Synology's DMS in terms of design and functionality. Both solutions can handle automated app installation.

NAS Expansion

While QNP does offer a PCIe expansion card for adding two M.2 slots for super-fast SSD memory to be installed, Synology has this already included by default. This allows you to add fast cache to take the pressure off your mechanical drives. On the flip side, with the addition of a PCIe slot in the QNAP NAS, you can install a Wi-Fi card or some other extension.

The choice is really down to what you plan to do with the NAS, the slight price difference, as well as brand loyalty.

QNAP and Synology offer expansion units so you can add more bays for the OS to use, which is handy for when you eventually run out of free space (especially in a RAID configuration). In order to access the bays in the QNAP TS-453B, all you need to do is remove the front cover.

In the case of the DS918+, Synology has added a locking mechanism for each bay, requiring a key to unlock each one. This lock is mostly plastic, so you won't be able to prevent access to someone with a crowbar and some muscle, but it may prevent the accidental release of a drive while in operation or dissuade someone from removing them.

The choice is yours

It's an unfortunate case when you're looking for an answer and all we can come up with as a definitive conclusion is "the choice is yours." The reason behind this is both NAS models are pretty much identical in terms of performance and features as a file storage machine. Where they differ is in price and additional functionality.

Do you want to start a home media server and wish to save some money? Go with the QNAP. Need to take advantage of M.2 slots and like the sound of securing your bays with lock and key? Synology is a solid option.

Serious NAS performance

While both NAS models come with the same Intel CPU, it's how Synology has approached the design of the DS918+ that makes it more preferable for those seeking to really take advantage of maximum performance with the inclusion of two M.2 slots.

Synology DS918+

Home server

$539 at Amazon

Rocking advanced M.2 SSD slots

DiskStation Manager is the OS that powers Synology's range of NAS models. It's one of the best NAS platforms out there and when you throw reliable NAS drives into the mix with super-fast M.2 slots, you've got quite the speedy machine. The only drawback is the price and lack of inputs.

For all your media enjoyment

QNAP includes a remote control so you know the TS452B is designed for media consumption. If you want to store and stream your content to the big screen, this may well be the living room NAS for you.

QNAP TS-453B

Media center

Ideal as a media server

$459 at Amazon

The QNAP TS-453B looks to have been designed with media consumption in mind, especially when you consider the IR receiver, remote control, SD card reader, and a whole host of available ports on the rear. QNAP's software solution isn't quite as good as DSM, but it's not far off.

Best answer: There is no USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 support on the Surface Pro 6, sadly. However, there are plenty of other great 2-in-1 tablet options for those that desire the functionality.

• Dell: Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 ($999+)
• HP: HP Spectre x360 ($950+)

Why is there no USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 on the Surface Pro 6?

Microsoft has been criticized extensively for not including high-bandwidth USB-C connectivity in either the Surface Pro or Surface Laptop lines for some time, thus far only including it in the Surface Book 2 and the Surface Studio 2. The reasons why it's not in the Pro 6 are similar to that of the Laptop 2; Microsoft tends to value its own proprietary Surface Connect port for additional USB, external monitors, and docking stations, such as Microsoft's own Surface Dock.

In the case of the Pro 6, the omission of Thunderbolt 3 is frustrating because the Pro 6 would benefit more than most devices from a dedicated external GPU, like the Razer Core.

USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 are more costly than regular USB to implement, particularly since it would require a shuffle of components for the Pro 6 and Laptop 2, which are incremental hardware updates for the most part. Eventually, Microsoft won't be able to ignore the proliferation of the tech, particularly now that Intel has scrapped the licensing fee for Thunderbolt 3 to help drive adoption.

The Surface Pro 6 is a stunning 2-in-1 device regardless, but if you desperately need USB-C and Thunderbolt 3, there are plenty of great alternatives to consider.

Best alternatives

Microsoft won't be able to ignore USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 forever, and while we wait for them to get on board with the big-bandwidth revolution, here are some 2-in-1 versatile Windows PCs with touch you should definitely consider.

Flip into tablet mode

Dell XPS 13 2-in-1

$999+ at Dell

A 360 hinge for some tablet-style versatility.

Dell's updated XPS line now includes 2-in-1 options complete with a 360 degree hinge for tablet usage. It doesn't support the Dell Active Pen for digital inking, but for quick annotations and signing documents the ten-point touch screen should be more than adequate. This a laptop that is sleek, powerful, and quite affordable, complete with Thunderbolt 3 support.

The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 is a pretty and powerful device, and the inclusion of Thunderbolt 3 increases its versatility immeasurably. However, if you want a device that can do all of that as well as inking, take a look at the HP Spectre x360.

Go 360 degrees (with inking)

HP Spectre x360

$950+ at HP

360 hinge with inking chops

If you want Thunderbolt 3 in addition to inking, consider the HP Spectre x360. It's powerful and versatile with a 360-degree hinge, making it as portable as it is productive.

Kodi is a powerful home media tool available on a wide range of devices. With the right hardware and matching plugins, adding your over the air TV channels to the main Kodi interface is a breeze.

Products used in this guide

• Amazon: HDHomeRun Connect Duo ($100)
• Microsoft: Kodi for Windows 10 (Free)

For the purposes of this guide, we're using a HDHomeRun Connect Duo tuner, but the process is the same for other supported hardware. You also must have set up your hardware first before going into Kodi.

Kodi has add-ons for HDHomeRun and other similar hardware, but those run like dedicated apps. What we're doing here is integrating the live TV channels directly into Kodi's interface for ease of use.

How to enable live TV on Kodi

1. Click on add-ons in the Kodi sidebar.
2. Hover over my add-ons in sidebar.

3. Select PVR clients.

4. From the list, select the relevant PVR client for your hardware.

5. Click install.

That's all you need to do to enable live TV within Kodi. It's a simple, seamless setup, and now you just have to go back to the main screen and click on the TV menu item in the sidebar.

How to watch live TV on Kodi

All of your channels have been pulled into Kodi's main interface, and it's pretty damn slick. When you first go into your TV section in Kodi, it'll pop up a list of channels on the left of the screen with currently playing shows. To see more channels you just scroll.

There's also a neat TV guide for viewing everything that's on now and upcoming across your entire channel list. And whenever you're watching something live, flicking out to the full guide or even just the upcoming guide for that channel never gets rid of what you're watching. It always fades into the background.

As you watch, recent channels and favorites will begin to populate within the TV section for quicker access. The beauty of this setup is that any device you install Kodi on can integrate live TV in just a few steps using your local network. There's no additional antenna required.

Our top equipment picks

One of the best tuners to use with Windows PCs and the Xbox One is the HDHomeRun, and it's great for Kodi, too.

Free TV

HDHomeRun Connect Duo

$100 from Amazon

An easy to use way to put OTA TV on all your devices.

Great to use with a number of devices, the HDHomeRun Connect is excellent value and one of the essentials in a cordcutters arsenal.

If you always need to run an app with admin privileges, here's the quickest way to do to it on Windows 10.

On Windows 10, sometimes you have to run programs as an administrator to access advanced functionalities to change system settings. For instance, if you work with Command Prompt or PowerShell, you may need to run them with elevated privileges to execute most commands.

If you use applications that require elevation in the daily basis, you've probably noticed that they don't run with the highest privileges by default. Instead, you have to access the right-click context menu or use other methods to run the program as an administrator. It's not a complicated process, but if it's an app that you use regularly, the extra steps can get in the way pretty quickly.

Luckily, it's possible to configure an app to always run as an administrator to save some unnecessary steps.

In this Windows 10 guide, we'll walk you through the easy steps to configure program shortcuts to run with elevated privileges.

How to always run an app elevated on Windows 10

To set a particular application to always run as an administrator, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for the app that you want to run elevated.

3. Right-click the top result, and select Open file location.

   Quick Tip: If you're running the October 2018 Update, as you search, you can click the Open file location option on the list of actions that appears on the right.

4. Right-click the app shortcut and select Properties.

5. Click on the Shortcut tab.

6. Click the Advanced button.

7. Check the Run as administrator option.

8. Click the OK button.
9. Click the Apply button.
10. Click the OK button.

Once you've completed the steps, every time that you start the app, it'll run with elevated privileges. Of course, if you're using the default User Account Control Settings (recommended), you'll still need to approve the UAC dialog to continue with the application.

At any time, you can revert the changes with the same instructions, but on step No.7, make sure to clear the Run as administrator option.

Although we're focusing this guide on Windows 10, you can use the same instructions to always run apps as an administrator on Windows 8.1, Windows 10, and older versions.

More Windows 10 resources

For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10, visit the following resources:

• Windows 10 on Windows Central – All you need to know
• Windows 10 help, tips, and tricks
• Windows 10 forums on Windows Central

These are all the most significant changes included in the first ten preview builds for the next version of Windows 10, codenamed 19H1.

Microsoft is already working on the next version of Windows 10, currently known as "19H1," (even though, we're still waiting for the re-release of the October 2018 Update), and recently, the company made available build 18267 in the Fast ring, which is the tenth preview rolling out to participants of the Windows Insider Program with new improvements and features.

Windows 10 build 18267 is still a minor update, but it ships with several changes, such as a new indexing feature to search your entire computer and improvements for the touch keyboard and Narrator experience.

Alongside the latest preview, Microsoft has also released Windows 10 build 18262, 18252, 18247, 18242, 18237, 18234, 18219, 18214, and 18204, and while the majority of them didn't introduce significant changes, some of them added a few interesting improvements.

In this Windows 10 guide, we'll take a closer look at the enhancements that Microsoft has been working for the next feature update planned to come out sometime in 2019.

Windows 10 19H1 latest features and changes

Here are the most worthy improvements that the Windows team has been working on the first ten Insider Preview builds of the Windows 10 19H1 development:

Sign-in screen

Starting with Windows 10 build 18237, the Sign-in screen gains an acrylic effect, part of Fluent Design, which you'll see in the background as you transition from the Lock screen.

According to the company, the new effect should help to focus on the sign-in task.

Taskbar

In the notification area, Windows 10 now includes a new disconnected icon that aligns with the minimalist iconography design that we see across the OS. You'll see the new icon when no connection to the internet is detected for the wireless, Ethernet, or Cellular adapter.

Also, in the notification area, you'll notice a new microphone icon, which appears when your microphone is in use.

Settings

Windows 10 build 18267 and previous releases are also introducing a number of changes to the Settings app.

Printers & scanners

On Settings> Devices, the Printers & scanners has been updated with build 18262 to include a link, under "Related settings," to quickly open and run the troubleshooter to fix common problems with printers and scanners.

Ethernet

On Settings> Network & Internet> Ethernet, the Network page now includes an "IP settings" section that allows you to set static IP address and DNS preferences. The new interface includes options to configure IP version 4 and 6, and of course, there's an option to set the networking settings automatically using DHCP.

These settings are available starting build 18252 and later.

Fonts

On Settings> Personalization, the Font page now includes the Windows Ebrima font to view ADLaM documents and websites (usually used in western Africa). Also, the new font supports other African writings systems, including Osmanya, N'ko, Vai, and Tifinagh.

This new font is available beginning with build 18252 and later.

Apps & features

On Settings> Apps, the Apps & features page, beginning with build 18262, allows you to uninstall additional apps that come preinstalled with Windows 10, including:

• 3D Viewer
• Calculator
• Calendar
• Groove Music
• Mail
• Movies & TV
• Paint 3D
• Snip & Sketch
• Sticky Notes
• Voice Recorder

This is in addition to the inbox apps that you're already able to remove in the previous version, which includes:

• Microsoft Solitaire Collection
• My Office
• OneNote
• Print 3D
• Skype
• Tips
• Weather

In the next version of Windows 10, you can not only remove these apps using the Settings app, but you can also uninstall them from the Start menu by right-clicking the app and selecting the Uninstall option.

Language

On Settings> Time & Language, the Language page is getting updated with build 18262 so that when adding a new language, you can set the new language as the "display language." In addition, the updated experience now offers separate options for installing packs, and you'll see a separate option for installing the Text-to-speech and Speech recognition features.

At the bottom of the settings page, there's a new link to access a new page, which allows you to select the input method to always use as default.

Searching Windows

On Settings> Cortana, the Searching Windows page is new starting with build 18267, and it includes new settings to manage the content indexing feature on Windows 10.

The page includes four sections. In the "Indexing Status" section, you can see the total number of files that have been indexed and are searchable using the search box in the Start menu and File Explorer.

The "Find My Files" section, includes two options. The Classic option (default) only indexes files in the known folders, including Documents, Pictures, Videos, Music, Downloads, and Desktop.

You can click the Customize search location here link to access the "Indexing Options," using Control Panel, to add and remove indexing locations and customize some additional settings.

The Enhanced option is new with the 19H1 development, and it allows Windows 10 to search all the folders and drives connected to your device (except for those locations added in the Excluded Folders list).

The "Excluded Folders" section allows you to specify the locations that the search feature will not use to look for content.

The "More Search Indexer Settings" section only includes a link to access the Control Panel settings to configure the search experience further.

If the search feature isn't working as expected, at the bottom of the page, you'll find a link to open the troubleshooter to fix common problems with this experience.

Troubleshoot

On Settings> Update & Security, the Troubleshoot page has been updated with a new Recommended Troubleshooting feature allowing Windows 10 to apply troubleshooting steps automatically when common problems appear on your device.

The page also includes an option to see a history of the times the OS ran troubleshooting steps on your behalf.

Although this feature is officially new with build 18262, Windows 10 originally introduced "Recommended Troubleshooting" during the development of the October 2018 Update, but then it was removed.

Touch keyboard

Windows 10 build 18267 also ships with an updated version of the touch keyboard experience that now includes Vietnamese Telex and Number-key based (VNI) keyboards.

In addition, when using the touch keyboard, you can now access more symbols and special characters by tapping the &123 button, and the tapping the omega (Ω) button.

Task Manager

In build 18262, Windows 10 is improving the "Details" tab of the Task Manager, which now shows the scaling mode that apps support, per process.

If you don't see the new column, right-click the header of any column, click the Select Columns, and check the DPI Awareness option.

Accessibility and input

In a continued effort to make Windows 10 more inclusive, build 18267 and build 18262 ships with additional improvements for Narrator.

For instance, starting with build 18267, Google Chrome users can use the up and down arrows in scan mode, navigate with the tab key, use continuous reading commands, and navigate by headings and links.

Narrator Braille now bumps the version number to 5.6 and introduces USB support for Inceptor and Orbit 20 displays. Also, Baum displays can now use B9 and B10 interchangeably. When using USB the BrailleNote can now be recognized, and the Liblouis binaries and tables have been updated to version 3.7.0.

The UI Automation framework now supports translating IAccessible2 information from Google Chrome, which according to Microsoft, enables clients to receive the IAccessible2 data through the UI Automation client interfaces.

Also, starting with build 18262, Narrator introduces "Read by Sentence," which allows you to read next, current, and previous sentences using a hardware keyboard and touch.

These are the keyboard shortcuts to use with Read by Sentence:

• Caps + Ctrl + . (period): Reads next sentence.
• Caps + Ctrl + , (comma): Reads current sentence.
• Caps + Ctrl + M: Reads previous sentence.

Additional improvements

Along with all the new changes, in the latest preview for Windows 10 19H1, you'll also find a few other minor improvements.

For example, when using the Registry Editor, pressing the F4 key will add a caret at the end of the address bar to expand autocomplete drop-down.

Finally, if you're a network administrator, you can use the Group Policy Editor to enable or disable the security questions to reset passwords for users with local accounts. (You can find these new settings on Computer Configuration> Administrative Templates> Windows Components> Credential User Interface.)

Wrapping things up

While the first ten previews are updates without significant changes, they incorporate some welcome additions that should help to improve the user experience of Windows 10.

As always, and seeing the track record of Windows Update, remember that these are test previews of Windows 10, and they're not intended to be used on your primary machine. Until the next version becomes available as an automatic download, there's a good chance that you will experience bugs, errors, data loss, and features not working correctly.

If you're planning to use pre-releases of Windows 10, it's strongly recommended that you use a spare computer, virtual machine, or at least make sure to create a full backup of your files before making the jump.

What are your thoughts on the first wave of changes coming to Windows 10? Tell us in the comments.

More Windows 10 resources

For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10, visit the following resources:

• Windows 10 on Windows Central – All you need to know
• Windows 10 help, tips, and tricks
• Windows 10 forums on Windows Central

Best answer: Yes. The Xbox One family of consoles remain some of the best pieces of multimedia hardware on the market, and while there's a lack of exclusive games, Xbox Game Pass is a fantastic service that makes up for that disappointment.

• Microsoft: Xbox One S ($300)
• Microsoft: Xbox One X ($500)

Why get an Xbox One?

Compared to its direct competitors — Sony's PlayStation 4 line of consoles — the Xbox One family has several notable advantages. Xbox One, which were designed for multimedia use, have the ability to play 4K Blu-ray DVDs and stream 4K video, whereas the PlayStation 4 does neither and the PlayStation 4 Pro can only stream 4K video. In addition, Xbox One is exclusively compatible with Dolby Atmos, giving Xbox users access to industry-leading spatial sound technology. The Xbox One family is also uniquely capable of transmitting your TV signal, which allows you to swap between watching television and playing a video game in seconds.

When it comes to gaming, the Xbox One is lacking in the exclusives department. However, this is offset by the excellence of both Xbox One Backwards Compatibility and Xbox Game Pass. Each Xbox One console is capable of playing most Xbox 360 games and even a few original Xbox games, meaning that if you used to own an older Xbox and still have your games, you can play them on Microsoft's latest generation of consoles for free. If your Xbox collection is small, Xbox Game Pass offers unlimited access to over one hundred Xbox 360 and Xbox One games for just $10/month.

The versatility and value of Xbox One is fantastic, but which specific console should you choose? Here's a breakdown of both.

Xbox One S

The Xbox One S is Microsoft's entry level machine this generation, and is an excellent option if you're looking for a modern multimedia experience for a good price. While it lacks the raw horsepower of its big brother, the Xbox One X, the Xbox One S can usually achieve a solid 1080p resolution and 60 frames per second, depending on what game you're playing. In addition, it is capable of playing 4K Blu-ray and streaming video content in 4K.

Compared to the original (now discontinued) Xbox One from 2013, the Xbox One S is also 40 percent smaller and can be used vertically, making it a great console to upgrade to if you happen to own the old Xbox One, or if you want something that won't take up a lot of space on your TV stand.

Xbox One X

The Xbox One Xis objectively the most powerful gaming console ever created. Powered by a six teraflop GPU and 12 GB of RAM, the Xbox One X is essentially a solid gaming computer in a console's shell. The Xbox One X puts this power to good use: almost all new games are able to run in 4K and between 30-60 frames per second. A lot of titles also offer a graphics setting that lets you swap over from native 4K to checkerboarding, which guarantees a higher framerate at the cost of a slightly worse looking picture.

Another excellent feature is how it makes games look better than they did on any other Xbox console. Games marked with an "Xbox One X Enhanced" tag have been tweaked by developers so that Xbox One X users will experience exclusive benefits like improved lighting effects, better anti-aliasing, and more. The X also provides all of the same multimedia features you would get with the Xbox One S.

The Xbox One X console itself is the smallest Xbox console ever created, making it a compact addition to your entertainment center that'll take up minimal space and offer maximum horsepower. Big things come in small packages, and that has never been more true than it is with the Xbox One X. It is pricy, however, so it's a great choice if money isn't a factor in your decision.

Entry-level choice

Xbox One S

$300 at Microsoft

Modern and affordable

Offering excellent value in a slim, sleek package, the Xbox One S is a great way to get involved with Xbox.

Premium option

Xbox One X

$500 at Microsoft

A beast in a box

Offering unrivaled power, loads of features, and the most compact Xbox structure yet, the Xbox One X is a legendary machine that is worth every dollar.

If you want to improve the touchscreen on your Surface PC, or any PC, follow this guide.

The Microsoft Surface Pro 6 and previous iterations try to combine the best of tablets and full Windows 10 PCs. While the idea mostly works, the consensus is that Surface is not as good at being a tablet like an Apple iPad. Some of that is due to hardware, some of it is about the software.

One area that can be improved is touch responsiveness. This function is thought to be achieved through a simple registry change on the Surface Pro (any generation) or any Windows 10 PC with touch support, like the new Samsung Galaxy Book2.

What this touch trick does to your PC

In the Windows 10 registry, there are settings to change latency and sample time, both of which will increase the responsiveness of the touch display when decreased. The potential downside, as mentioned above, is decreased battery life. However, many users who make this change say any shift in battery life is imperceptible to detection, or at least not apparent.

Article dispute: Brandon Paddock from Microsoft notes this trick does not quite do what some think it does:

"This value does NOT change the polling frequency or sample rate of the touchscreen. All it does is lie to the prediction engine about what those values are, breaking its ability to correctly do its job... All it does is lie to the prediction engine about what those values are, breaking its ability to correctly do its job. At best you are giving invalid values that it ignores."

As always, we'll leave it to the user to determine if the experience is worse or better for themselves. Just know that Microsoft evidently does not support or endorse this modification or our article.

If you do notice a massive downgrade in battery or other anomalies, you can quickly revert the registry change and return to normal.

It is important to note that if you're using Windows 10 in S mode, like how the Surface Go or Galaxy Book 2 ship, you cannot access the registry in that configuration and would need to switch out of S mode for this to work.

Finally, the difficulty and risk factor for this "hack" is as "easy" and "low."

How to change touch sensitivity in Windows 10

Since Microsoft does not offer a way to alter touch sensitivity through the Windows 10 OS, the most direct way to do it is through the registry.

Warning: Modifying the system registry can have dire repercussions if not followed precisely, including driver failures, system instability, or not being able to boot into Windows. Users are always encouraged to run a system backup before making any changes to the registry.

To increase or decrease touch responsiveness on your PC, follow these steps:

1. Type in registry editor into the search box.

2. Click yes on the User Account Control window.

3. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\TouchPrediction

4. Double-click on Latency and change value from default 8 to 2 (or less) in the Value Data box.

5. Hit OK when done.

6. Double-click on SampleTime and change value from default 8 to 2 (or less) in the Value Data box. Hit OK when done.

7. Close the Registry Editor.
8. Restart PC to make sure changes take effect.

The exact value to set Latency and SampleTime to is arguable. Most users configure it to "2," but others have set it to "1" or even "0", which presumably makes it even more responsive. Due to the likely hit on battery life setting it to "2" seems like the best choice, as it delivers a substantial improvement without any noticeable side effects.

Does this really improve touch responsiveness?

If you frequently use the touchscreen on your PC, then yes, this does make the PC feel much more natural, fluid, and responsive. As to how much value you get out of it – and whether it substantially affects battery life – is up for debate, but there does not appear to be any dramatic negative consequences hence why we are suggesting it.

The more interesting question is why Microsoft does not set a lower default value. The immediate explanation would appear to be to maximize battery life. One solution for Microsoft could be just to put this under Windows Settings and let users have access to a slider with a small warning that increasing sensitivity could impact battery life.

Like all things Microsoft these days, the best way to send Microsoft your requests is the Feedback Hub built into Windows 10.

Related reading

How to disable adaptive contrast on the Surface Pro and Surface Book

Best answer: If you value competitive pricing and complete control over your hardware, HP is the best place to go for an HP ENVY x360 13z.

HP: HP ENVY x360 13z (From $760)

Make it yours

It's hard to go wrong with heading direct to the manufacturer when picking up a laptop, and that's precisely the case with the HP ENVY x360 13z. While places like Amazon and Best Buy may be great options, HP wins out with competitive pricing, frequent discounts, and the support you get from going through the manufacturer itself.

The biggest benefit to ordering through HP is that you'll be able to tweak your order with exactly the hardware you want. The base model, sporting an AMD Ryzen 3 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage is a solid enough start for most who just want to get work done on the go, but many will want to bump up at least some of those specs. HP's customization tools allow you to easily tweak individual components, whether it be stepping up to a more powerful processor or doubling the RAM.

Storage is often a sore point with picking up preconfigured models in store, and HP will let you easily move on up to 512GB or even 1TB of speedy SSD storage as needed. Oh, and free shipping with a 30-day return policy is nothing to scoff at.

Add in a free HP Active Pen, and you'll be able to get started with digital inking from the moment you pull the laptop out of the box.

Extras at a discount

Buying software along with your PC isn't always at the top of the priority list, but HP offers some intriguing discounts worth checking out. You can bundle up on things like an Office 365 subscription and antivirus software (if you need it) at a pretty solid discount. A one-year Office 365 Personal subscription, for example, costs $20 less when you bundle it with your PC, bringing the cost down to $50.

The alternatives

Amazon is always a popular choice as well, particularly if you're already shelling out $119 per year for the free shipping. However, the stock is sometimes limited and you won't be able to tag on the same discounted extras you could find directly from HP. If you can't be bothered to wait around for shipping, Best Buy frequently offers seasonal discounts that could be worth considering, and you get the added benefit of walking right out of the store with your purchase.

Both are viable alternatives, but HP itself remains the best option thanks to its flexibility and support options.

Our pick

HP ENVY x360 13z

From $760 at HP

Customization is king

From the discounted extras to the pure customization options, HP remains your best shot at getting an HP Envy x360 13z just the way you want it. And if you end up unhappy with your purchase, HP's easy return system and generous return policy is an asset worth considering.

You can configure auto-save on Office apps to prevent losing your work when the unexpected happens. Here's how.

Losing work you've done on a document because of crashes, or if you accidentally close the file without saving, can be very frustrating. Thankfully, to reduce the chances of losing your work, the suite of Office applications provides two options (AutoRecover and AutoSave) to save Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other documents at various intervals automatically.

In this Windows 10 guide, we walk you through the steps to configure when Office applications should save the contents of a document automatically.

• How to enable AutoRecover in Office for documents you store on your PC
• How to enable AutoSave in Office for documents you store in OneDrive
• How to change AutoRecover frequency in Office apps

How to enable AutoRecover in Office for documents you store on your PC

AutoRecover is a legacy feature that allows you to control the time when you want to auto-save a document. When enabled, it saves a copy of the document (every 10 minutes by default) to ensure that most of the content is available in the event that the app or your device crashes, or if you close a document without saving.

To enable AutoRecover for documents that you store locally on your computer, do the following:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Word (or any Office app), click the top result to open the experience.

3. Click on the File menu.

4. Click on Options.

5. Click on Save.

6. Under the "Save documents" section, check the Save AutoRecover information every (X) minutes option.

   Quick Tip: It's also a good idea to check the Keep the last AutoRecovered version if I close without saving option to add an extra layer of protection.

Once you completed these steps, moving forward, documents that you create on any Office application (such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) will save automatically every 10 minutes.

If you must disable this feature, you can use the same instructions, but on step No. 6, make sure to clear the Save AutoRecover information every (X) minutes option.

How to enable AutoSave in Office for documents you store in OneDrive

AutoSave is a similar feature that saves document changes automatically, but only if you're saving files in the OneDrive folder or SharePoint online. (This feature is only available for Office 365 subscribers. If you're not a subscriber, you can start with the Office 365 Personal plan, which is usually priced at $69.99 per year. )

To enable AutoSave for documents that you store in the OneDrive folder, do the following:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Word (or any Office app), click the top result to open the experience.

3. Click on the File menu.

4. Click on Options.

5. Click on Save.

6. Under the "Save documents" section, check the AutoSave OneDrive and SharePoint Online files by default on Word option.

After completing these steps, when you save an Office document in the OneDrive folder future changes will save automatically.

Using this feature, you won't find an option to control the AutoSave timer because the changes are saved in real-time while you're working in the document.

If you want to disable this AutoSave feature, you can use the same instructions, but on step No. 6, make sure to clear the AutoSave OneDrive and SharePoint Online files by default on Word option.

If the AutoSave toggle switch is grayed out above the ribbon menu, it means you haven't saved the document for the first time, or the document is not in the OneDrive folder. Also, remember that this feature is independent of the legacy auto-save built into Office, which means that disabling this option won't affect auto-save for files you store locally on your device.

How to change AutoRecover frequency in Office apps

If you want to adjust the time to save documents automatically in Office, do the following:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Word (or any Office app), click the top result to open the experience.

3. Click on the File menu.

4. Click on Options.

5. Click on Save.
6. Under the "Save documents" section, check the Save AutoRecover information every (X) minutes option.

7. Set the time (in minutes) when the app should automatically save the contents of a document.

   Quick Tip: To minimize the chances of losing your work during an unexpected situation, it's best to set the AutoRecover feature to save your content every 1 minute.

8. Click the OK button.

Once you complete these steps, Office documents that you store locally on your device will save automatically at the intervals you specified.

More Windows 10 resources

For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10, visit the following resources:

• Windows 10 on Windows Central – All you need to know
• Windows 10 help, tips, and tricks
• Windows 10 forums on Windows Central

Finding Power Armor in Fallout 76 is easy, once you know where to look.

Fallout 76 is a fresh take on Bethesda's role-playing series, abandoning its single-player roots for an all-online experience. The move brings significant changes to gameplay and progression, ushering a new focus on cooperative play across its biggest open-world to date. And while set for a November 14 release, the game's pre-release B.E.T.A. is already underway.

As with prior Fallout games, obtaining Power Armor is a key objective for daring wasteland explorers. Here's what we know about Fallout 76 Power Armor and how to find it fast.

See at Amazon

Where to find Power Armor in Fallout 76

Power Armor grants numerous player benefits, including heightened defense, radiation resistance, increased carry weight, and no fall damage. These colossal suits look to be essential during the game's later encounters, filled with high-level enemies and harsh conditions.

Like previous games, we expect players to receive Power Armor via the main questline at later levels. However, Bethesda has also littered dozens of abandoned rigs throughout its world, including sheds, warehouses, and more. These fixed locales make Power Armor considerably more accessible, provided you know where to look.

After locating Power Armor, approaching its rear and following on-screen prompts will allow you to enter the frame. Doing so will set the Power Armor into a "deployed" state, tying the suit exclusively to your player. To allow other players to enter the armor, it must be recalled to your inventory and dropped like other items. This will remove all player ties, opening the set to foes and allies.

Fusion Cores also return and are required for all armor variants. These keep your Power Armor functional and deplete over time, though drain has reportedly reduced over prior entries. These cores can be found across the map inside generators.

List of Fallout 76 Power Armor

Like standard armor, Fallout 76's Power armor is broken into several modular components. The main Power Armor chassis, mandatory for any suit, can be used by any player level. However, helmets and armor plating are level-gated, requiring occupants to hit a designed rank to use them. While entry-level Power Armor can start as low as Level 15, some superior sets may require heavy grinding.

We've wrapped up every Power Armor model discovered so far and the level requirement.

• Raider Power Armor (Level 15)
• T-45 Power Armor (Level 25)
• T-51 Power Armor (Level 30)
• T-60 Power Armor (Level 40)
• X-01 Power Armor (Level ???)

As details on new Power Armor variants surface, we'll update this list.

List of Fallout 76 Power Armor locations

With the Fallout 76 B.E.T.A. currently underway, the first sightings of Power Armor are surfacing across the wasteland. Once you know where to look, finding your own set isn't a huge challenge, but low player levels currently make full sets hard to obtain. In the meantime, we wrapped up all confirmed Power Armor locations so far.

• Aaronholdt Homestead
• Charleston Fire Department
• Grafton Dam
• Kanawha Nuka-Cola Plant
• Morgantown Warehouse
• Morgantown Trainyard
• Moundsville Penitentiary
• Point Pleasant

Have you found Power Armor across the regions of Appalachia? Drop your findings into the comments. In the meantime, Fallout 76 is now available for preorder on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC for $59.99, with a slated November 14 release.

How to play the Fallout 76 beta

See at Amazon

Best answer: At the time of publication, HP only offers the Spectre Folio with a single color for both the leather and aluminum chassis. The company has stated the leather can be removed, which could pave the way for alternative colors from HP or third-party accessory vendors.

HP: HP Spectre Folio 13 ($1,300+)

One color for all

The leather is part of the HP Spectre Folio 13 experience and design, but HP only offers the Windows 10 notebook in a single color. You won't be able to choose how the leather or aluminum looks, but the company has stated the leather is designed with removal in mind, should you wish to replace it at a later date — perfect if HP or a third-party comes up with different colored leather.

Leather is an interesting material for laptops since you don't usually see anything other than metal or plastic. Where leather truly shines is by setting your notebook apart from other devices and not freezing up your palms when attempting to use the notebook after a cold boot. The only downside is keeping the leather in prestige condition requires a higher level of care.

Purchasing the HP Spectre Folio 13, it's possible to configure it with an Intel Core i7-8500Y (1.5GHz), 2TB M.2 SSD, and 8GB RAM. While it's no powerhouse like a more expensive gaming laptop with integrated graphics processing, faster processors and more RAM, it does offer up to 18 hours worth of battery.

The Spectre Folio 13 is specifically designed as a portable workstation for use when you're away from the desktop PC and the option for LTE makes it a great purchase should you travel to locations where connectivity is sketchy.

Our pick

HP Spectre Folio 13

$1,300+ at HP

Premium notebook with leather.

HP did something unthinkable in the Windows notebook space by creating a laptop made of aluminum and leather. Not only does the HP Spectre Folio 13 sport a premium look and feel, but also packs some serious hardware under the hood.

You can customize the Command Prompt appearance to make it a little more personal. Here's how you how to do it on Windows 10.

Command Prompt has been around for a long time, and while it's a pretty darn useful tool, it's always been plain and boring with the same black background and white text.

However, this is just the way the program looks by default. You can actually customize many aspects of the experience to make it more personal using different fonts, colors, and window layouts. In addition, if you're using Windows 10, you can even make the console semi-transparent and use custom color schemes to quickly change the appearance. And you can apply the settings globally, or you can apply them independently for each shortcut that starts a new session or to use more suitable settings for different tasks.

In this Windows 10 guide, we walk you through the steps to personalize the Command Prompt experience to make it a little less boring.

• How to customize cursor on Command Prompt
• How to customize font size and family on Command Prompt
• How to customize layout on Command Prompt
• How to customize color and transparency of Command Prompt
• How to change color scheme on Command Prompt

How to customize cursor on Command Prompt

To customize the size of the blinking cursor on Command Prompt, use the following steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Command Prompt, and click the top result to open the console.

3. Right-click the title bar, and select the Defaults option.

4. Click on the Options tab.

5. Select one of the available options:

   • Small (default).
   • Medium.
   • Large.

6. Click the OK button.

While we recommend using the "Defaults" option from the right-click context menu, you can access the Command Prompt settings in at least two different ways, and each way will affect the console appearance differently.

• Defaults: The changes you customize using this option will not affect the current session, but the new settings will apply when launching Command Prompt using any shortcut.
• Properties: The changes you make using this option will apply to the current session, and future sessions. However, these settings will only apply to the shortcut whose properties have been customized. (This option usually comes in handy when you're trying to customize the appropriate settings for different tasks.)

How to customize font size and family on Command Prompt

Using the Command Prompt settings, you can specify the size of the font and the font family to fit your preferences using these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Command Prompt, and click the top result to open the console.

3. Right-click the title bar, and select the Defaults option.

4. Click on the Font tab.

5. Under "Size," select the size of the font you want to use. (The default option is 14 pixels, but you can go as large as 72 pixels.)

6. If you don't like the default "Consolas" font family, you can choose from a number of other families that are suitable to use with Command Prompt under the "Font" section.

7. Click the OK button.

As you make a selection, at the bottom of the page, you'll notice a preview of the new configuration.

How to customize layout on Command Prompt

To use a custom layout on Command Prompt, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Command Prompt, and click the top result to open the console.

3. Right-click the title bar, and select the Defaults option.

4. Click on the Layout tab.

5. Under the "Screen Buffer Size" section, you can specify how much content you can view and scroll while working with Command Prompt.

   Quick Tip: If you want to adjust the width parameter, make sure to clear the Wrap text output on resize option.

   The buffer size uses coordinate grid based for character cells, which means the width is the number of character cells that can fit on each line, and the height is the number of lines. The larger the width and height, the more content you can view, but these settings will not affect the size of the console. (Usually, you don't want to modify these settings unless you have a reason.)

6. Under the "Windows Size" section, you can make the window console larger or smaller by changing the width and height parameters, which are based on character cells (not pixels).

7. If you want Command Prompt to launch in a particular position, clear the Let system position window option.

8. Specify the new start position (in pixels) using the Left and Top settings.

9. Click the OK button.

As you make changes, on the right side of the page, you'll notice a preview of the new configuration.

How to customize color and transparency on Command Prompt

If you want to make the command-line experience a little less boring, you can also change the text and background colors, and on Windows 10, you can make the console window semi-transparent (just like in Linux) using these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Command Prompt, and click the top result to open the console.

3. Right-click the title bar, and select the Defaults option.

4. Click on the Colors tab.

5. To change colors, select an element from the left side, and either select a color from the list or use the RGB settings on the right to specify a specific color.

   Quick Tip: If you don't know the exact amount of red, green, and blue that make up the color you want, do a Google search for "RGB color picker" and use the search engine's built-in tool to get the values.

6. To make the console window semi-transparent, under the "Opacity" section, drag the slider left or right to set the amount of transparency (to a minimum of 30 percent).

7. Click the OK button.

Alternatively, you can change the transparency for the current session without opening the settings using the Ctrl + Shift + mouse wheel up to decrease transparency level or Ctrl + Shift + mouse wheel down to increase transparency level.

How to change color scheme on Command Prompt

Starting with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (version 1709), it's possible to customize the appearance of Command Prompt using custom color schemes.

If you want to use this feature, download the Microsoft CoolTool from GitHub, extract the contents of the ColorTool.zip file, and then use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Command Prompt, right-click the result, and click Run as administrator.

3. Type the following command to navigate to the folder that contains the ColorTool executable and press Enter:

   cd C:\PATH\TO\ColorTool

   In the above command, replace cd C:\PATH\TO\ColorTool with the path to the folder where you extracted the "ColorTool" folder.

4. Type the following command to list the available color schemes and press Enter:

   colortool -s

5. Type the following command to change the Command Prompt color scheme and press Enter:

   colortool -b SCHEME-NAME

   In the above command, replace SCHEME-NAME with the name of the color scheme you want to use. While typing the name, do not include the ".ini" or ".intercolors" extension. The -b switch is optional, and it makes the scheme the system default.

6. Right-click the title bar, and select the Properties option.
7. Click the OK button to apply the scheme changes.

Once you complete these steps, restart Command Prompt to start using the console with the new color scheme.

At any time, if you want to revert the original colors, you can use the same instructions, but on step No. 6, make sure to use the either the campbell or cmd-campbell scheme name.

More Windows 10 resources

For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10, visit the following resources:

• Windows 10 on Windows Central – All you need to know
• Windows 10 help, tips, and tricks
• Windows 10 forums on Windows Central

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

While loot is always a coveted reward in Bethesda's Fallout role-playing series, there's an even heavier focus its latest entry, Fallout 76. The upcoming multiplayer spinoff drops players into post-war West Virginia, with high-level armaments a necessity to overcome its top threats. Although grinding through levels will be required, the addition of trading has huge implications for gameplay.

Here we wrap up everything you need to know about Fallout 76's trading systems and how they can benefit you.

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Trading in Fallout 76: What you need to know

While rival shared-world shooters like Destiny are strongly averse to player trading, it's a core feature of Fallout 76. It's been a staple of Bethesda's role-playing empire for years and remains a natural fit, too. The system allows players to trade all loot with non-player merchants as well as player-controlled survivors.

Initiating a trade requires a single button press, either with an acquainted team member or a newly-found survivor. Trading can be used to quickly share aid in quests, obtain high-value goods, or even bargain with rare nuke launch codes.

Restrictions are enforced to prevent players from breaking progression systems, including "level caps" that prevent high-level items being used by low-level players. However, in the game's pre-release beta state, there are no limitations on trading with newly-found players. External trading forums have already grown around this, though Bethesda's stance on the practice is currently unclear.

How to trade in Fallout 76

Getting started with Fallout 76 trading is relatively simple, with accessible options to initiate and organize trades. When in the game's open world, follow the steps below to kick off and complete a trading session.

How to start a Fallout 76 trade

After finding a player to trade with, you'll need to initiate the session. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Approach the player you want to trade with.
2. Press Y to initiate the trade. (If a trade has been requested, press Y to accept.)

How to offer items in Fallout 76 trades

Once trading, players can offer items to players from their inventories. When offering items, a player-determined price can be set in caps. Follow these steps:

1. Select an item from your inventory.
2. Press A to offer the item.
3. Set how many caps to charge. (This starts at zero.)
4. Choose OK to offer the item.

How to request items in Fallout 76 trades

See an item that grabs your interest? You can also signal to players you're interested in items using these steps:

1. Press RT to open the other player's inventory.
2. Select an item from their inventory.
3. Press A to request the item, and wait for them to set a Cap value for it.
4. Accept the offer if happy with the terms.

Repeat the above steps as desired to complete your trading session. Have any additional trading tips for players? Drop into the comments section with your thoughts. In the meantime, Fallout 76 is now available for preorder on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC for $59.99, with a slated November 14 release.

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Skype has a built-in feature to quickly share your screen during a call, and here's how to do use it.

There are all of the situations where you may need to share your screen with other people. Perhaps you want to show them a presentation. You need to teach someone how to perform a task. Or you need to show an error to a technician to get advise on solving a problem.

Whatever the reason may be, if you're running Windows 10, you can use the Skype app to share your screen during a call.

In this Windows 10 guide, we'll walk you through the easy steps to quickly share your screen with other people during a Skype call.

How to share your screen on Skype

To share your computer screen on Skype, use the following steps:

1. Open Skype.
2. Select a person from your contact list.
3. Click the Video call or Audio call button to start the conversation.
4. Click the Skype interface (or tab the screen) to unveil the call actions.

5. In the bottom-right corner, click the two square overlapping button.

6. If you're using a multi-monitor setup, select the display you want to share.
7. Turn on the Share computer sound toggle switch (optional).

8. Click the Share screen button.

Once you've completed the steps, your screen will now be available for viewing for all the people participating in the call. You'll also notice a yellow line around the screen letting you know the display that you're sharing and that the feature is currently enabled.

To stop sharing the screen with other people, click the Share screen button in the bottom-right corner of Skype.

Although we're focusing this guide using Skype on Windows 10, you can also use these instructions to share your screen using the desktop version of Skype for Windows 8.1, Windows 7, macOS, and even Linux.

Do you use Skype or another solution to share your screen with other people? Tell us in the comments.

More Windows 10 resources

For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10, visit the following resources:

• Windows 10 on Windows Central – All you need to know
• Windows 10 help, tips, and tricks
• Windows 10 forums on Windows Central